La Nina Blanca
by CindyChamiAngel
Summary: Sam is injured and sick and taken to a hospital where Dean encounters La Nina Blanca, A powerful ghost that wants to eat his soul. He and Cass must find a way to defeat her before Dean is the main course.


La Nina Blanca

Crawl on me  
Sink into me  
Die for me  
Living Dead Girl

Living dead girl – Rob Zombie

The Road So Far – Sam, Dean and Castiel got caught up in Branson by Lotus Eater. Suri went on her first date with Andy, who secretly works for Crowley. Crowley is trying to drive a wedge between Sam and Suri to gain the Nazarene for himself.

Sam groaned mildly. The morphine was wearing off. That was a blessing and a curse, the pain would come back to his brother, but there were be fewer questions about what he was drugged with.

He leaned heavily on Dean's shoulder and his eyes fluttered open.

"Where are we?" Sam asked, sounding like his mouth was full of cotton.

"At the hospital." Dean replied and looked again at the charge nurse.

"Oh, God, are you ok?" Sam asked.

Dean sighed. "Yeah, Sammy. You're the one whose injured. You're leg is shredded. You're going to need more stitches then I can put in."

"Oh, damn, that sucks..." Sam fell again on his brothers shoulder and snored a little.

A CNA came from the back room and pushed a wheel chair over to them.

"Sam..." She said and looked at her clipboard. "This is Sam Winchester?"

Dean nodded. He got up and helped her get Sam in the chair.

"What the hell happened?" She asked.

"We got in a fight with a ghoul." He said and looked at her blandly. "You should see the other guy." He added.

She nodded and turned and pushed Sam into the back. Dean started to follow, but a commotion at the desk caught his attention. He turned and walked over to the desk where an old Latino man was rambling. He was very agitated and Dean moved behind him in case he had to restraint him.

The man was crying and terrified he almost climbed up on the desk.

"Whoa, old timer." Dean said and pulled him back. The girl behind the counter looked at him gratefully. The old man turned to him and grabbed his shoulders. He looked Dean right in the eyes.

"La Nina Blanca!" The old man said. "She is coming!"

"Who?" Dean asked.

"One time for your skin to patch her own

Twice for your hair, which she keeps between her teeth

Three times for your bones, which she will make into clubs

Four times for your heart that she will rip out of your chest

Five for your teeth that she will polish and keep in a box

Six for your eyes which she will pluck out one by one

Seven for your soul, which she will swallow whole.

Her eyes are cold black eyes that leak blood and she moves without appearing to move. You are never really sure she is following you until she knocks at your door."

Dean looked at him for a moment. "Well, she sounds like a party."

"Senor, she is coming..."

At that moment, the lights flickered.

"What the?" Dean said. The old man in front of his began to shudder and weep.

The air grew cold, more then any ghost he'd ever experienced and he saw frost forming on the walls.

A heavy knock reverberated through the room, like a gong that shook the soul.

"One." the old man whispered.

Again the room shook with the vibrato of the knell of the knocking. The nurse at the desk passed out. A few of the people waiting got up and ran to the doors. They were sealed shut.

"Two." The old man intoned. His face looked rapt with fear.

Again it tolled, that infernal knocking. The air seemed to pulse with some approaching, heavy energy.

"Three." The old man squeaked.

"What is happening?" Dean demanded.

"Please senor, there is no hope for me. Run away, close you're eyes and do not look."

One more peal, and then there was silence, like all the air was sucked out of the room. Something eldritch gnawed in Dean's stomach. He hadn't felt like this since the hell hound dragged him away to hell.

The old man's eyes rolled back in his head, he began to shake violently and a wet spot appeared on the front of his pants. A wet gurgling came from his throat and suddenly his chest broke open spattering Dean with blood and viscera. A yelp erupted out of Dean's throat and he fell backwards, sliding in the blood as the old man fell. The still beating heart vanished from his chest and Dean stared in wild horror.

The lights stopped flickering and the air heated rapidly to a tepid 72 and everyone sat in shock.

"Son of a bitch." Dean whispered and took out his EMF meter. He flicked it on and it sparked and died.

"What the hell was that?"

Security entered the room and helped him up.

Doctor Jason Wade checked Dean's heart rate and handed him an antibacterial towel.

"Don't get it in your mouth or eyes, ok? I'll get them to take you upstairs and get you a shower and some scrubs."

"I have clothes in the car. Thanks doc,"

"None of my business, but your brother just had 105 stitches and the beginnings of what seems like pneumonia and you look very comfortable wearing someone else's blood. You need help or something?

Dean shook his head. "I can't explain it but we're the good guys. How's Sam?"

"Resting. I gave him more Morphine. Just a tad. Tomorrow he moves down to Vicodan and then Tramadol. I assume you have a source?" Dean nodded. "What happened out there?"

"God's honest truth, Doc, I got no clue. I've seen a lot of stuff, but that is a new one."

"Stuff like what?" The doctor asked.

"You'd send me to another floor if I told you."

"Try me."

"What if I told you vampires are real?

"You'd have my attention."

Dean assessed the doctor with a steely glare. "I'm a hunter. I hunt monsters. My brother, too. We got jumped by a ghoul in a cemetery tonight and Sammy was off his game.

"Yeah, his temp is 104. Not sure how he walked into the hospital. And I saw the CCTV. That tourniquet you put on him saved his life."

"He's been worse."

"Worse?" The doctor asked skeptically.

"Well, if you count dead, yeah, worse. I am not getting the don't believe you vibe off you."

"I'm a trauma doctor. I've seen stuff too. Like bodies drained of blood and eaten and a couple of mummified corpses of 20 year olds. But, my wife died a few years ago..."

"Sorry. You think something killed her?" The doctor shook his head.

"I spoke to her two years ago. On the phone. And then saw her across the street."

"That would be some good evidence. You see her again?"

"No, but it put the fear of God in me. So, this thing? I've seen two other bodies like it. One with the chest ripped open and another missing eyes."

"The Old man said something about 'La Nina Blanca?'" Dean offered.

"The white girl is the translation."

"So, we get some yoga pants and pumpkin spice lattes and we off this thing." Dean said in his deadpan way. The doctor smiled.

"I suspect it won't be that easy. What do you usually do?" Jason asked.

"Well, it seems like a ghost, but an off the Richter scale ghost. It blew out my EMF meter and there was frost on the walls. I'd go and burn the bones if I could find them… I don't even know who this is. I could do some research on the computer… Look up this La Nina Blanca"

"There's one in my office. I'll take you up there. It's private and on the same floor your brother will be on. "

"Thanks, Doc. Maybe we can figure out that thing with your wife, too. If it's her spirit, it could be bad..."

"Bad?"

"Spirits who are earth bound don't… do well." Jason nodded and sighed.

"I guess you can define bad later. Come on. You can find your La Nina Blanca." Jason took Dean to the elevator. "Oh, your clothes and shower." Dean nodded as they moved upwards.

It was twenty minutes later and Dean was fresh from a shower in the doctor's locker room. He watched his brother sleeping in the oxygen tent, his face was pale but placid. Sam's phone rang and Dean picked it up. It was Suri's number.

"Hey, honey." Dean offered.

"Hello, sugarplum." Castiel intoned back.

"Cass?" Dean asked. "Why are you on Suri's phone?"

"She got a very disturbing call from her father on a strange line. I put her out."

"You what?" Dean said urgently.

"She was hysterical and so I put her to sleep. She is resting comfortably. It's after her bed time anyway and she is going to school tomorrow. Sam was rambling and the boy was here."

"Are you ever going to call him by his name?" Dean asked.

"Fine. Dufus was here." Dean chuckled as much at Castiel's exasperated tone as the dig,

"Sam and I found a nest of ghouls. Turns out his little bug is pneumonia and he was running a 104 fever when I got him to the emergency room."

"Is he alright?" Cass asked with real concern.

"Yeah, he's fine. Stubborn. We live with two people who can lay on hands for Christ's sake."

"Yes, about that. You realize that the laying on of hands is a sacrament and might be a little wasted on a hang nail?"

"She narced me out?" Dean asked. Cass's silence told him the story. "It really hurt and it was my trigger finger..."

"I will keep her calm. Let me know if we need to come and help."

"Naw, I think Mr. Natural would be pissed if I didn't let his body handle this. Besides, it's been like 24 hours since anyone asked me how I was feeling. Hey, Cass. Speaking of questions, have you ever heard of La Nina Blanca?"

Again, there was silence. This was full of dread.

"Get out of there." Castiel said. "I will meet you somewhere."

"What the hell, Cass?"

"I can't tell you over the phone, someone might be listening."

"What, is this some kind of terrorist thing?"

"Just leave, Dean."

"I'm not leaving Sammy..."

"Sammy isn't in any danger. Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital in Springfield, Missouri."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. I need you to go to the morgue and stay there if you won't leave."

"The morgue?"

"The dead will make to more difficult for her to find you..."

"Cass look..."

"Dean, just trust me!" he could hear Castiel running and the jangle of his keys. "Just go, damn it!"

Just then there was a cold wind and he saw ice forming in Sam's IV.

"Son of a bitch" He said and turned and ran out of the room.

The cold followed him. He skidded down the corridor and just managed to grab the edge of the elevator door. He thought better of being trapped in a small box with whatever that was and saw the sign for the stairs. He skittered to it and through and launched himself down the stairs, jumping down the first flight painfully and hitting the wall, bouncing off and careening down the next flight. He thanked God this was a small place, only three floors and then he'd be on his way to the basement.

It was behind him, he could hear it, the cracking of the metal banister as it froze, the shattering of safety glass as the molecules contracted impossibly fast, it was the silver tinkling of winter in the middle of Spring.

He was making good time and getting a lead for himself. It seemed to have a maximum velocity that was pretty slow.

He swerved pasted the first floor sign and leaped down the final flight and came to the basement door. Bottom. No where else to go. He pushed the bar. Locked.

Castiel drove like a bat out of hell. Of course Dean had found the White Girl. Who else? If there was something in the Universe that could kill you horribly, Dean would stumble over it. Sam would fall in love with it. John would try to kill it and Suri would feel sorry for it.

Together they would be the death of him, no doubt literally. Again. Soon.

But this was a big deal. He'd thought perhaps the white girl had vanished as her folklore died away. Apparently there were those who still believed. There was some movie that Dean had made him watch that was pegging his memory. You watch the film and then you die. You say her name and then you die.

He wondered how many times Dean had said her name already.

Damn Winchester luck.

Dean beat on the door in desperation.

"Open the door! Open it! Damn it!" He heard it behind him, getting closer and his brain fought a war with panic. He reached into his pocket and took out his lock pick tools. He had no idea where to use them.

"For the love of GOD! Open the door!" He looked over the device, looked over his shoulder and realized up wasn't an option. He could see the line of frost on the floor and back the way he came was to freeze to death, or worse.

He slid the lock pick in a hole on top of the safety bar on the door and felt the cold touching the hair on the back of his neck, like the breath of a corpse and suddenly the door swung open from the inside.

"Cool your jets..." The orderly in the hall began, but couldn't finish the thought because Dean grabbed him and pulled him down the hall.

"Dude, wait, stop..." The orderly begged but Dean didn't relent, he dragged the man after him, reading doors.

The orderly looked back. "What the?" He breathed.

"No time, morgue. Where?"

The orderly took the lead and moments later they were both skidding to a stop in front of a swinging door. They dashed in as the cold wind blew passed them.

Inside they stopped and waited. The doors frosted but there it stopped.

"What the hell?" The orderly asked.

"I wish I knew." Dean sighed and collapsed into a chair. He took out his phone and called the hospital. The nurse answered. "Springfield Memorial."

"I need to talk to Doctor Jason Wade. It's an emergency."

Dr. Wade walked back into his office. He expected to find Dean there was was a little upset when he didn't find him. He sat at his computer and found it still locked, nothing disturbed, the seat still slid under the desk.

"Dean, did you find La Nina Blanca yet?" He called as he looked for Dean.

This alarmed him because it could only mean something bad had happened. He turned to go and look for Dean. He walked into a frigid spot. He felt ice crystals sparkle over his skin and saw wisps of his breath in the air, stopped and realized he was having trouble breathing.

There was a sound, a knocking, a sound that made his soul shudder. Once. It reverberated through the office.

Again it cracked, and he felt his knees go weak, felt his life slipping away. He knew he was doomed.

A third knock shouted out death and his knees went out from under him. There was a sickly silence, as if all the sound had been drained from the universe. For a moment he thought he might have gone deaf.

And then he felt cold hands grip him, his body went rigid, the cold freezing his muscles painfully and then, it got much worse. He heard the cracking of bone and the ripping of sinew and the tearing of ligament. It hurt so bad he couldn't even react, just sit there in the middle of the pain and endure. He prayed for death as his skin tore and peeled away from his skeleton.

And then he was blessed with death.

Dean heard her transfer the call and there was just ringing, no answer. He was worried about Sammy, knew ice in an IV couldn't be good and needed Wade to go check his brother. He for his part was trapped here in the morgue.

He hung up and tried the nurse again. A harried woman picked up.

"Yeah, I need to talk to Doctor Wade. it's an emergency..."

"Are you family member?" She asked.

"Yes," he lied. "His brother."

"You should get down here now. There's been an accident..."

"What happened?"

"Just come down here. I have to go. Sorry."

She hung up on him.

"Damn it." Dean swore and put his phone back in his pocket.

"OK, what the hell is going on here?" The orderly asked.

"Some guy up stairs came in talking about Le Blanca Nina… And then he had his eyes ripped out and now Doctor Wade is dead apparently.."

"What the heck is this..."

"La Nina Blanca. Some kind of pissed off ghost with a nuclear amount of energy. For some reason we seem to be safe in here."

"What is it, what is it going to do? I don't understand..." The man was in panic mode, there would be no thinking clearly for him.

"It's a ghost and if we leave this room, it is going to kick our asses. Got it?"

The guy looked at him, still confused, still terrified but somewhat mollified by the surety of Dean's voice.

"How do we fight a ghost?" The orderly asked.

"Cold iron and salt. Burn the body, which I think is going to be an issue here."

"Then we're screwed cause we got zero of that stuff here. The coroner has high blood pressure so we don't even have table salt."

"Well, a friend of mine is on the way, so when he gets here we should be ok."

"Well, I hope your friend is a ghostbuster."

"Better, he's an angel. Hey, what's your name?"

"Cliff."

"Well, Cliff, I'm Dean."

"So, Dean how do you know so much?"

"I kill this stuff for a living."

"Wow, and I thought my job sucked." Dean grinned as Cliff collapsed into a chair.

Suri woke alone.

"Castiel?" She called. She found her phone on her bedside table and dialed her dad's number. There was no answer. She freaked a little and felt a hand on her shoulder, cold but confident and comforting.

She turned and John was there.

"It's ok. Your dad is good. I heard your uncle talking to Cass. He had pneumonia but he's in the hospital."

"He sounded crazy."

"He had a high temp. Your dad always has been a crappy patient." John offered.

"What was he like as a kid?" She asked.

John smiled. "You." She smiled back at him. "A complete pain in the ass." He added and she furrowed her brow at him and slapped at him with her pillow. It went through him. "That's rude." He grinned.

"If anything happened to my dad." She said suddenly.

"Yeah. Me too. I love those idgits."

"I feel like I had time stolen from me by the Templars. I could have been his daughter all along. But they thought the influence of a father would tarnish the bloodline. Mom told me that right before she died. She loved him so much..."

"Do you miss your mom?" He asked. She nodded and looked away. "You know, not to sound like your Dad but you should talk about it. With or Cass… ok, maybe not Cass. Dean, maybe, he seems to be good with talking to you."

"Dad says it's because we are the same age emotionally." She grinned and John let out a laugh. "Dad's just got so much going on. You know, his own loss, everything…."

"Your dad needs someone to talk to and I think if you went to him, the two of you could help one another. Your dad is good at that kind of stuff."

She nodded and blew he Grandfather a kiss. "I will, when he comes back."

"Good. Now. Missy, School tomorrow. Sleep." She smiled and laid down and a few minutes later she was snoring lightly, just like Sam. John mustered his will and pulled the covers up over her shoulder.

"You done good, Sammy." He said and left, turning out the light.

Castiel finally pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. It looked like there had been a bomb scare. There were police officers outside, and blue lights whirling.

He reached in the glove box and pulled out the FBI ID Sam had made him and pocketed it. He walked into the crowd.

There was a police tape. He flashed the badge and moved through it, waved on by the cop watching the tape. On lookers gawked at him. There were a lot of people here. Tragedy drew crowds, which mystified him.

He wandered past the police and saw someone who looked like they were in change. He held up his badge, the Detective looked at him. "Agent Osbourne."

"What happened?"

"You're not going to believe this but, his bones are gone..."

"Gone?" Castiel said, a look of shocked disbelief on his face. "Who… was it." He had this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and begged whomever was listening to prayers that day for it to not be an unidentified guy in an Army jacket.

"Yes, ripped out of his body and taken. And no one heard anything so apparently he didn't scream. Some doctor. They are upstairs now, scraping him up with a snow shovel." The detective looked a little pale. Castiel didn't blame him.

"I can imagine one doesn't see that every day." Cass offered, unsure what to say.

The cop let out a guffaw. "Yeah, you could say that."

Cass thought for a moment. What would Dean do now?

Castiel squared his shoulders in an authoritarian manner and cracked his neck. "I'm going to go see the crime scene."

"It's a bitch." The detective said. "Hope you didn't have much dinner..."

Castiel looked at him and almost explained that he didn't eat then decided Dean wouldn't do that. He entered the building and sighed with relief. He had a conversation without Dean and no one died. And Dean was alive. Good so far.

He stopped a charge nurse and flashed his badge quite expertly. He smiled, pleased with himself. "Where is the morgue?" he asked.

"Basement." She said. Castiel nodded and got on the elevator. He pushed the button marked 'B'. So far he was pulling off this whole Winchester thing.

Dean sat on a stool across from Cliff.

"So, why won't it come in here?" Cliff asked.

"Dunno, but it seems to be working and I'm not looking any gift horses in the mouth." Dean reached behind him and shut the laptop Cliff had been so kind as to loan him.

There had been little to nothing about this "La Nina Blanca." She was a Mexican folk tale. She killed people. There was a rhyme…

"La a Nina,, La Nina Blanca." Dean muttered. "Who the hell is she and why does she want me dead?"

"Well, not for nothing but I've only known you a few hours and I want you dead." Cliff offered sarcastically.

"Oh? You got something to say?"

"Yeah. I got something. It's your fault I'm here. I've spent an hour listening to you sigh, and tap your fingers and sing crappy seventies rock badly. You order me around..."

Cliff got up and began pacing.

"I'm tired, and I'm scared and you have no idea what's going on or you won't tell me and I just want this to be over so I can go home and not have to care about this La Nina Blanca..."

At that moment, he moved passed the swinging doors. A ghostly hand reached through and grabbed his arm. He screamed like a girl and Dean ran to him, grabbed him pulled him back but the doors opened wider and wider as Cliff lost his footing and slid into the corridor. Suddenly there was the sound of ripping and his flesh began to peel, to separate and rivulets of blood coursed down his skin as it ripped off his muscle and skeleton.

Cliff's screaming intensified and Dean, unsure as to what course of action was best kept pulling until Cliff's skin fell off leaving Dean holding a bloody, naked hand that looked like a high school anatomy doll.

He let go and made an alarmed sound, went to the sink and washed his hands.

At that moment the door opened again and in walked Castiel.

"Holy crap am I glad to see you" Dean sighed. He turned and watched as Castiel almost tripped over the body of Cliff. Cass looked down and grimaced.

"She's been here?"

"La Nina Blanca..."

"Stop saying that..." Cass snapped.

Dean looked at him, stunned by the force in the words.

"Every time you say her name, you add a knock."

Dean stopped and fell into deep thought. "Crap..." He said.

"What?"

"I think I've said her name seven times...Maybe six..."

"One is bad enough."

"You could have mentioned this while I was at, say, just losing some hair or something." He stopped and thought. "I wish I'd remembered that stupid poem..."

"Quite bitching. You've lost your soul before. Several times as I recall. You survived."

"If you're not going to take this seriously, Cass… Wait, did you say bitching?"

"I am endeavoring to sound more human. Bitching seems to be the verb of choice in these situations."

"You are such a geek. What the hell am I going to do?"

"No one has ever survived an encounter with her. And the lore is quite limited about her. I can tell you what I do know."

"That would be great, Cass. I would appreciate that." Dean said sarcastically.

"I understand that you are under stress..."

"Some monster wants to wear my skin and eat my soul. I think stress is the appropriate response."

"Yes, of course. OK. Once, a long time ago there was a girl who was born into a horrific situation. She was abused and harmed pretty much from birth. By the time she was a teen ager she was so completely broken, she was nothing but rage and fear. She was terrified of everything and wanted to destroy everything. She escaped from her tormentors and went deep into the jungles, trying to disappear. She hated everything so much, she didn't even want people to know she existed. She died in the jungle some unspecified time later and her spirit manifested a creature of pure rage, pure fear that wanted nothing more then to destroy her own memory. As long as anyone remembered her, she would hunt them down and murder them to erase herself from the Akashic Record."

"The what?"

"The Akashic Records are a compendium of thoughts, events, and emotions believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the astral plane."

"You know I don't speak Enochian..."

"The records are just memory. The universal memory of every thing that ever happened, was felt or sensed. It's like the internet of time."

"That exists?" Castiel nodded. "And she wants off it?" Again, Cass nodded. "So how do we erase her?"

"No. Stop right there."

"Cass..."

"You don't even know what you are suggestion. If we could get into the records, which we can't, messing in them would probably cause Armageddon. Or worse. Forget it. I shouldn't have even mentioned the records in your presence..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Darkness. Dean. Killing Death. I will back your play on anything. You are my best friend. But no. not this. We need to find another way. Just… listen to me for once..."

Dean looked at Cass as if seeing him for the first time. Something clicked in his head and he nodded.

"Yeah, sure Cass. What else you got?" Castiel softened with Dean's words. He took a moment and looked at the ground, composing himself. Dean wasn't sure what had Cass so upset, but he didn't want to hurt his friend.

"We could try making you forget her." Cass offered.

"Dig around in my brain? Sure. No one I'd trust more then you." Dean smiled. Castiel almost spoke but then seemed to realize Dean was serious.

"Fine, sit down and we can begin. This might hurt..."

"Cass..." But Castiel had already put his hands on Dean's forehead.

It was more...intimate...then Dean thought it might be. Painful, sure a little but more uncomfortable. Dean could see what Castiel was looking at. The angel had none of the social mores or judgments of a human, still, Dean had humanized him in his mind.

Castiel flipped through his memories, of his childhood, of loss, of joy, of sex. He saw moments with Lisa, passionate, moments of pure lust, moments of tears -those were the most embarrassing, those fleeting moments of vulnerability.

Walls tumbled before the angel, he remembered things he had forgotten. Sammy's first birthday party, Mom singing and carrying a cake, Dad bringing out presents. His first kiss, his first heartbreak, the names of every teacher he'd ever had.

Castiel flipped through them with no judgment, like they were files in a file cabinet. Some of Castiel's memories collided with Dean's, and some of Cass's bled through.

Memory of their first meeting, not in the warehouse, but Castiel reaching down, a golden light, a sword of photons and taking Dean from the pit. Of Hannah, and imagining her kiss. Of a beautiful angel on whom Castiel gazed and looked away and the emotion in that was so strong, so sad and lonely that Castiel noticed and shoved it hard away to protect Dean from it.

"Who was that?" Some part of Dean's mind asked.

"No one," Cass replied in a tone the cut off any more conversation about it. Maybe Cass had his heart broken once. Dean thought to himself. "Yes," Cass sighed, and Dean realized he had no more privacy of thought.

"Sorry, dude." Dean offered.

"Some things even Angels can't reach." He replied and found the memory he was looking for. "Ah, here. This is the tricky bit."

Castiel reached down and tugged at the memory of the emergency room. "Curious."

"What?" Dean asked.

"Seems to be..." he pulled harder and Dean fell into screaming. It felt like a blinding white knife had ripped through his brain, Castiel also screamed and fell away, the contact broken.

For a moment, Dean couldn't see. He opened his eyes and there was a light, painful and slowly it fell away, and he saw Castiel on the floor, unconscious with a nose bleed. He shook off the shock and the creepy feeling of violation from the mind probe and fell next to him.

"Cass? Wake up." He lifted Cass up and held him. A moment later the angel opened his eyes and blinked.

"OK, plan 'B'." Cass murmured.

"What's that?" Dean asked.

"We kill the bitch" Cass said and passed out again.

Sam woke up with a tube in his nose. He had no idea where he was but he was in pain and groggy. He sat up abruptly and pulled the tube out of his nose and dislodged an IV.

"Hospital" He sighed, figuring out at least a location. He shook his head and a moment later a nurse came in.

"Lay down." She ordered and he did. He looked at her, vaguely frightened. "You are very sick. You have pneumonia and had 105 stitches put in your leg. You are hopped up on pain meds and pure oxygen. This hospital is in an uproar, there's been a huge emergency down stairs and I will sedate you if you get out of this bed. Your brother told me you are a bad patient." She said.

"Dean?" He said. His throat was sore. She smiled and offered him some water. He sipped it gratefully, and swallowed, the pain easing immediately.

"Your brother disappeared. The police are looking for him. Your car is still out front. I'm sure he's fine, just hiding somewhere in all the chaos."

"You don't know Dean. If there's Chaos, his directly in the center." He said in a hoarse whisper.

"Not this. I don't know why I'm telling you this. Probably the FBI badge I found in your pocket but we had a doctor murdered."

"Murdered?" Sam's eyes narrowed. He felt dizzy for a minute.

"Yeah, had his bones ripped out, they say. And there was a guy down stairs had his heart ripped out by some invisible force in front of twenty witnesses..."

"Dean." Sam began and tried to stand.

"See, this is where the speech comes in. Stay in bed..."

"I can help. You said yourself. FBI..."

"Yes well right now your S-I-C-K. And that trumps F-B-I."

"I feel a ton better." He pushed her out of the way and she let him get up. He stumbled a little, grabbed the bed for support and she held him. He sat on the bed and felt her put the oxygen back on him. He breathed and it felt so good.

"Sure you do." She offered.

"Get me my clothes, I'll fill out the form." Sam said as he tried to stand again. Blood began to run down his leg and she sighed and reached in her pocket. She pulled out a hypodermic and showed it to him. He sat. "Fine."

She lifted his leg on the bed. "You popped three stitches. OK. I'll tell you what. I'll re stitch you and get you an immobilizer and a wheel chair. OK? Then we can go and check on your brother."

"Fine." He said. And lay back and let her stitch him.

Suri's phone rang and she picked it up urgently. She was on the side of her bed, getting ready for school and she saw her dad's name. Suddenly she didn't care if she got the bus. She'd call Andy's dad for a ride if she needed.

"Dad?"

"Yeah baby, you ok?" He asked and she started crying. "Honey, calm down. I'm good. I'm ok. Is Cass there?"

"No, he went to see Uncle Dean. He's in trouble, I think."

"Whose with you?"

"Dad, I'm one of you. I've been alone before..."

"No guests. Did Cas say what the issue was?"

"No, are you sure you're ok? You sound awful."

"Yeah, baby, I'm good."

"I can get Andy's dad to bring my up there and heal you..."

"No. You go to school. Go to the Defresne's after school."

"Grandpa is here. I couldn't be safer." She said. 

"Fine. Do your homework, I'll check it when I get home."

"You're going to be in the hospital for a while."

"No, I'm not. Go to school. Best day ever, ok? I love you."

"I love you, too, Dad." She said and hung up. "He's deluding himself." She muttered and John laughed.

"Yeah, that's about right. Eat breakfast." He said.

"All of you are such naggers!" She got up and went into the kitchen for some cereal. She grabbed Dean's sugary junk instead of the granola and grinned at her rebellion.

Cass woke up again and Dean jumped. He let out his breath, was not aware he'd been holding it.

"You ok?" he asked and Castiel nodded and sat up. Dean could tell his head was swimming by the lack of focus in his eyes.

"I hate unconsciousness. How do you do it all the time?"

"I'm rarely unconscious..."

"I beg to differ." Cass offered and slid off the morgue table Dean had put him on.

"I liked you better before the sarcasm."

"Who was being sarcastic? Help me, find me a bowl or something. Fortunately, we are in a morgue."

"I know it's the place I choose to vacation."

"The main spell component is dead man's blood. I'll go to the car and get the rest of the things. You get a bowl and fill it with blood."

"Sure," Dean said and sniffed. He wondered idly what it would be like to have normal conversations with normal people. He imagined. "So, today, you know what? Not a single thing tried to eat soul. Really Bob? Well, I got my tie caught in the printer at work. Damn near killed me! Guffaw." There was some bitterness in his line of thought. "Probably bore me to tears..." he said and grabbed an emesis basin and filled it with Cliff's blood. "And this never happens at normal family reunions, either." He added.

Sam was secured in the wheel chair and the nurse was behind him.

"Who was that?" The nurse asked.

"Ah, my daughter. I knew she's be worried. She's a great kid, but dhe worries too much. He mom died not long ago..."

"I'm so sorry." the nurse said. He nodded and sighed.

Sam took out his phone and called Dean. He picked up immediately.

"Sam? How you feeling?"

"Fine, Dean where are you, the cops are looking for you. What happened?"

"There's this spirit. I can't tell you but trust me, you just stay in bed and rest. You're perfectly safe."

"And you?" Sam demanded.

"Cass is with me. We're going to do a spell, ok. just, rest will you. There are already too many people involved in this thing."

"Just tell me what's going on."

"I can't Sammy. If I do, it will get you involved..."

"I am involved, Dean. We're a team remember."

"Come on Sam, not this. We are a team, but this is different..."

"How?" Sam sounded annoyed.

"Look, you remember the Ring? That movie about the video that people watch and then a spirit comes and kills them?"

"Yeah, so?"

The phone went day and the lights crackled and the hallway went cold. Sam felt the hair on his back go brittle.

"I wondered why a nurse in an emergency had so much time to wheel me around.: He said as he felt the cold coming from behind him. He could feel her anger. He turned and looked up. What he saw almost made him scream.

Castiel had grabbed some blood on the way out. The bowl of blood had just been to keep Dean from following him out of the room and into harm's way.

Cass opened the back of the Impala and took out the components from the spell and hurrieldy dumped them into the bowl. He intoned the incantation and dropped a match in the bowl. He felt the Reaper behind him.

"Terrence." Castiel said as he turned.

"Look, the it's the Winchester's Au Pair."

"I am the keeper of the bloodline and you'd do well to show me some respect." Castiel offered.

"Yes, that does give you a modicum of prestige, doesn't it. The first angel in 600 years to be allowed even near the Grail. So, what is she like?"

"A teen aged girl. This isn't why we are here. There is something in that hospital you might want."

"Well, I do a lot of business in hospitals..."

"La Nina Blanca." Castiel said.

The Reaper froze. "You wouldn't lie to me?"

"Of course I would. I find you to be a piece of garbage, even for a Reaper. But she's in there."

"Let me guess, one of your charges found her." Castiel nodded.

The Reaper vanished.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled. "Answer damn it!" The lights were going insane and electrical devices were jumping off the lab tables in sparks.

He looked at his phone and it was dead, burned out. His ear felt vaguely singed. He ran to the doorway and started to exit.

"I wouldn't do that." came a voice from behind him. He turned and looked and there stood a tall, thin man. "I should take you. You know, just on principle. You keep us busy...I need a vacation from you."

"Why are you here?" Dean asked the Reaper.

"Castiel called. Tell me are you ever going to marry him and make an honest man of him?"

"Funny, you going to help or just make jokes?"

"Ordinarily, I'd just watch but it turns out you have something I want very badly..."

"Charisma?"

"Teresa Evita Espinoza." At the sound of the name, all the lights in the building exploded. "Oh, good, she's still angry!" he cooed and grinned.

Castiel watched as the lights went out. He saw Something pass by one of the windows in the upper floor, saw Sam in a wheel chair and then a nurse pushing him. But the nurse was not a nurse. He launched himself into the building and stopped in front of the elevators.

Suddenly, one of the elevators stopped and the 'B'. Castiel let out a trembling sigh. This was not going to way he'd planned.

Suddenly, the lights went out. Cass launched himself to the stairs and damn near flew down them on his broken wings.

Sam sat in the elevator with the spirit.

"What is it you want? Who are you?"

"No one. I'm no one. I want to be left alone, forgotten."

"Why, that makes no sense."

"People are terrible. If they find you, it's pain. Tired of pain." It sighed.

"Not all people. I would never hurt you."

"You will. Unless I can end it. Your brother knows I exist. I have to kill him. If I can get rid of those who know me..."

"I know you. Are we the last two?"

"There are others, some who believe. I am drawn to them and I'll get rid of them, too."

"You can't kill innocent people just because..."

The air in the elevator seemed to vanish and he struggled for breath as an oppressive feeling of rage filled the space. She moved around in front of him and pulled back her shirt. She was scarred, pits and holes where flesh should be, horrific reminders of the kind of brutality he didn't even want it imagine. Things that would make Hell weep.

"LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO ME!" She screamed at him. "LOOK WHAT THEY TOOK FROM ME! I WILL BURN THIS WORLD TO THE GROUND TO MAKE IT STOP..."

She looked down and saw him struggling to breath and stopped. She touched his cheek. He shuddered and looked at her. She didn't see repulsion in his eyes, but something else. Something...kind. She began to change subtly…

And then, all hell broke loose.

"What the hell was that?" Dean demanded.

"A temper tantrum."

"You know, for a Reaper, you're kind of a douche."

"Why thank you. Do you know how long I've been looking for her? How long she's been leaving a trail of innocent souls who weren't supposed to die yet? Do you know what that does to the paper work?"

"Sorry your pen hand is numb, asshole. I'll buy you a carpel tunnel brace. How do we catch her?"

The Reaper glared at him. "She's here. I guess we play it by ear..."

The swinging doors of the morgue slammed open and Dean turned, saw the Spirit with Sammy in a wheel chair.

"Let him go." Dean demanded.

"Get rid of the Reaper." She offered.

"Dean. It's not what you think. I think I can..."

"Sammy, you're not thinking clearly. That thing is a murderer."

"You tell him, Dean." the Reaper prodded.

"Dean, she's a girl. I saw her."

Dean looked into the decaying face of the spirit. It was malice and vengeance and nothing innocent or good.

"That's the morphine talking." Dean told him. Sam shook his head.

"Dean… Send the Reaper away."

"Well, as it turns out, he didn't summon me." Terrence offered.

"I did." they heard and turned and saw Castiel standing next to the spirit. When she saw the angel, she fled, turning into a puff of smoke.

"Nice." The Reaper said. "You frightened her away."

"We'll find her again. She hasn't left" Castiel offered and leaned over to check Sam. He touched Sam's forehead and a spark of light erupted from his finger tips. Sam looked instantly better. He stood.

"Aww and you were so close, Sam." The Reaper said.

"Yeah, I could smell your stinking breath." Sam agreed tersely.

"Well, it's been loads and loads of fun working with you, but I'm a solo kind of guy. Tata." And the Reaper disappeared.

"Sammy, you ok?" Dean asked

Sam nodded. "Yeah, that Reaper is a douche. In fact, most of them are..."

"Well, not all celestial beings have my sparkling personality." Castiel offered.

"And the funny thing is he believes that." Dean offered and walked to his brother. He checked his leg and there was not even a scar.

"You should have called me sooner. Or let Suri heal you..."

"Would you all stop. I'm her dad and I'll decide who she heals." They both looked at him.

"Fine. This is counter productive. Perhaps we should spread out..." Cass announced

"I think she'll come to me. I got something..."

"Dude, you were so high on Morphine..." Dean began but Sam cut him off with a look.

"I don't think she's evil. I think she's broken… I think she needs a friend."

"I think she needs an exorcism. Bring me and old priest and a young priest..." Dean spat.

""Well, whatever she needs, we should find her before the Reaper does."

"Why what will he do?" Sam asked.

"Drag her screaming to hell." Cass told them.

Sam and Dean exchanged a glance…

"Sammy, no..." Dean said, but Sam's jaw set. He turned and left the room.

Crowley pulled up in front of the bunker. No one was home except Little Suri. He honked the horn and waited.

Ah! how domestic. Soon she would be eating out of his hand.

She came out, books in hand looking like innocence and joy, her dark hair whirling behind her. He almost threw her in the back of the Escalade and drove away. Never to return. It hurt him not to. But he resisted. Better she come voluntarily, he told himself again. Less fight from her and his kidnap of her would insight the Winchesters to lethal aggravation. Crowley was still alive where others weren't because he never, ever underestimated the Winchesters.

She climbed in wearing a cologne that was older then her years. No doubt it had been her mother's. He wondered how Sam dealt with that late at night. He loved having a filthy mind.

"Thanks. My dad is sick, in the hospital and my uncle Dean is with him so..."

"Where is your nanny?" Crowley asked.

She gave him a puzzled look. "Nanny?"

"Yes, the tall somber gent..."

"Castiel. Oh, yes. He went to check on them. There was some problem."

"Well, my dear, I hope everything is alright. I insist you come and stay with us until they return. You shouldn't be alone."

"Oh, I'm not. My Grandfather is with me."

"Really? I should love to meet him."

"Yeah… no he's kind of bitey." She offered.

"Beg pardon?"

"He's old and not really friendly." She offered. He nodded.

"Well, my dear, should you need some time with more pleasant company, you are welcome to come to us. And do tell your family I hope they are all well. I'll keep them in my prayers."

"Thanks!" She said and smiled. "That is so nice. You are just the nicest people. I'm glad I met you."

"I'm glad you met us, too." He smiled and drove her to school.

Sam heard Dean behind him but didn't turn back.

"Sammy, Sammy let's talk about this."

"What is there to talk about, Dean? I'm not letting that Reaper drag her to hell."

"She's a monster, Sammy. She's killed hundreds, maybe thousands of people. She pulled off a guys skin while I was holding him. Whatever was in there is twisted. Monsterous."

"So were you. So was I. Someone reached out and pulled us back. I don't know what happened to her..."

Dean was silent and turned away. This made Sam stop. He turned to his brother. "What?"

"Nothing..."

"Dean..."

"Cass says she was tortured. Like Hell level torture."

Sam nodded and turned. "Little girl!" he called. Dean sighed.

"You're going to do this no matter what, aren't you..."

Sam stopped and turned to him again and nodded.

"OK, let me figure out how to kill her first." Dean said.

"She could have killed me, Dean." Sam said, definatively.

"She does want to kill me Sam."

"I want to kill you half the time, Dean. That doesn't necessarily mean something is evil."

Dean glared at Sam. He took a deep breath. "Her name is..." he mouthed something.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Oh for..." Dean took out some paper and a pen and wrote down her name. He handed it to Sam and walked down the hall.

"I'll be in the morgue with Cass. Holler if you need us."

Sam looked down at the paper. He took a deep breath.

"Teresa?" He said softly. A wind wailed and knocked him flat. He began sliding down the hallway from the force of the gale and then suddenly it subsided. Sam shivered in the icy cold of the wind. He sat up and wrapped his arms around himelf. He looked up and she was standing there.

"Don't say that. I don't want to hurt you. You haven't broken the rule." She told him.

"What rule?"

"Saying it. The summoning words."

"It's your name. It's important."

"If they know your name they can find you. And then they hurt you."

"I won't hurt you. Some people will hurt you, I won't lie. Some people are sick and evil. But some people aren't."

Something changed in her. It seemed to get a tiny bit warmer. She relaxed and looked a tiny bit more… human.

"I don't… Believe you."

"Yes, you do. That's why you don't want to hurt me. I'm so sorry you were hurt and believe me, I'd take it back if I could. I've been hurt, too."

"You're a liar."

"No. I really do care. As a dad, when I see a girl hurt, it's like my own little girl is hurt."

"You have a little girl?" She asked. Again, the visage changed. She became calmer, her human self poked through, Some of the scarring faded.

"Yes. She's my whole life and I would die if anything happened to her."

"My parents didn't care. They sold me." She said, sadly.

"That's disgusting. I can't imagine anyone..." he stopped and looked away in real revulsion. He felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He turned and she was there, looking almost human.

"You love her?" She asked.

He smiled at her. "Yes," He looked at her sweetly and smiled. "Wow, you are a very pretty young lady." He offered. Something like a smile crossed her face and he reached out, offered her his hand. "You know, there's a place you can go that has no pain..."

Before she could react something grabbed her. She howled in pain and Sam stood up, looked to see what it was. The Reaper was behind her.

"NO!" Sam screamed and grabbed for Teresa. She reached for him and he touched her cold hand, but he ignored the pain and held on to her.

The Reaper pulled at her frantically. "Sorry Sam, this ones mine." And with a final tug the Reaper pulled her free of Sam's grasp and the last thing Sam saw was her reaching for him, a look of panic on her face.

He fell to his knees, looked like he might vomit. The next thing he knew he felt hands on his shoulders. He was being lifted up by two sets of strong hands and lead out to the parking lot and into the Impala.

Sam came in and threw his arms around Suri. She hugged him back just as tightly.

"I was so worried about you." She said.

He nodded, didn't try to speak. He lifted her up like an infant and carried her into his room and lay down on the bed next to her. He enfolded her into his arms and held her, holding back the tears.

"Are you ok, Dad?" She whispered.

"Yes, baby. I'm good now. It was rough."

"Yeah. For both of us. I miss mom so much."

"Yeah, I've been worried about you. You're being strong, I guess for me?" She nodded. "OK, here's the deal. I'm really new at this dad thing, but will you let me try to be the adult here?" He asked and she smiled and nodded. "Good. Now, let's talk about your mom."

"The worst of it is, every time you leave I'm afraid I'll lose you, too."

"You don't have to worry about that. If I die, Dean and Cass will drag me back. Not joking. I can't die even if I want to." He said with a smile. She grinned back and then, large, hot tears filled her eyed. She threw herself into his chest.

"It's ok baby. Let it out. Daddy's here."

You, who are on the road

must have a code that you can live by.  
And so become yourself

because the past is just a good bye.  
Teach your children well,

their father's hell did slowly go by

And feed them on your dreams,

the one they pick's the one you'll know by.  
Don't you ever ask them why,

if they told you, you would cry,  
So just look at them and sigh

and know they love you.

Teach Your Children Well – Crosby Stills Nash and Young.


End file.
